Ebay vat charges

[Doo Da]

Just went to buy a record on Ebay from the states and it's automatically added 20% at the check out,is this now the norm ?

Thank's

[Tlscapital]

Depends on the eViBay's seller selling and shipping options but yes it can be. Here in Belgium the VAT on any second, third or zillion hand objects like records is 21%. The state is the greatest beneficiary of people's work.

[Blackpoolsoul]

21 hours ago, Doo Da said:

Just went to buy a record on Ebay from the states and it's automatically added 20% at the check out,is this now the norm ?

Thank's

https://sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/global-sales/2021-vat-changes

[The Yank]

It looks like e-bay is adding the VAT tax upfront.

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by The Yank

[Steve G]

This has been the case for about a year now. Discogs is the same. Tax collected at point of sale which they have done in the USA with sales tax for some years. Steve

[Amsterdam Russ]

Interesting and - at the same time - alarming story about VAT/customs charges on items bought online from the UK and sent to the Netherlands. Not of much interest to most of you, perhaps, but it's worth noting this comment from the Dutch postal service (PostNL), which states that:

Quote

For gifts [sent from abroad to the Netherlands, ie, an EU member state]: ‘you do not have to pay VAT for gifts with a value of up to €45. Please note: this only applies if the parcel is from a private sender.’

eBay, I suspect - and based on the surcharges I've had to stump up when buying from the UK - is charging VAT with no distinction about whether the seller is private or business, and makes it about impossible for individuals to dispute erroneous charges. 

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/parcels-from-britain-you-will-have-to-pay-unless-it-is-a-small-gift/

 

[Steve G]

2 hours ago, Amsterdam Russ said:

Interesting and - at the same time - alarming story about VAT/customs charges on items bought online from the UK and sent to the Netherlands. Not of much interest to most of you, perhaps, but it's worth noting this comment from the Dutch postal service (PostNL), which states that:

eBay, I suspect - and based on the surcharges I've had to stump up when buying from the UK - is charging VAT with no distinction about whether the seller is private or business, and makes it about impossible for individuals to dispute erroneous charges. 

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/parcels-from-britain-you-will-have-to-pay-unless-it-is-a-small-gift/

 

By definition if you are buying something from eBay it is not a gift. So whether the sender is a private individual or a business is irrelevant.

[Amsterdam Russ]

32 minutes ago, Steve G said:

By definition if you are buying something from eBay it is not a gift. So whether the sender is a private individual or a business is irrelevant.

Gift?

The taxation aspect seems to depend on the status of the seller. Private = no VAT. Business = plus VAT. Or am I misunderstanding what the article says?

[Steve G]

37 minutes ago, Amsterdam Russ said:

Gift?

The taxation aspect seems to depend on the status of the seller. Private = no VAT. Business = plus VAT. Or am I misunderstanding what the article says?

For gifts [sent from abroad to the Netherlands, ie, an EU member state]: ‘you do not have to pay VAT for gifts with a value of up to €45. Please note: this only applies if the parcel is from a private sender.’

Gifts is the 2nd word. The exemption applies to certain gifts if under E45 and is from a private sender. There are no gifts on eBay, it is a buying and selling marketplace much as we may like there to be. 

 

 

[Amsterdam Russ]

1 hour ago, Steve G said:

For gifts [sent from abroad to the Netherlands, ie, an EU member state]: ‘you do not have to pay VAT for gifts with a value of up to €45. Please note: this only applies if the parcel is from a private sender.’

Gifts is the 2nd word. The exemption applies to certain gifts if under E45 and is from a private sender. There are no gifts on eBay, it is a buying and selling marketplace much as we may like there to be. 

 

 

Ah, yes. I’m with you now. But wasn’t it the case - and perhaps I’m looking too far back - that there was a clear distinction between commercial enterprises selling on platforms such as eBay and ‘private sellers’? In the case of the former, VAT had to be paid, but individuals did not. Jeez, likely that distinction is well and truly history and yet I still thought it pertinent. Upgrade 2022.4 required…

[22ndsoul]

Should they also be charging me 20% extra vat on the cost of shipping from the USA

Edited August 17, 2022 by 22ndsoul

[Mickey Finn]

As I live in Finland my music hobby is very dependent on US and UK sources. The introduction of external VAT rules in both the UK and EU last year has significantly increased costs for us all (the latter for me). This can also be seen in the prices of new releases on sale at music retailers in the EU. Where these are imported from the US or UK or Japan (as most are, or indeed any non-EU country except, uh, the likes of Switzerland - not known for its manufacture of physical record formats), the price already effectively incorporates the VAT that was previously not paid by foreign commercial buyers, including retailers themselves.

This means that we are all effectively paying double VAT or sales tax on any purchases coming from outside our single market area. That's supposed to be fairer for domestic producers/retailers, who are theoretically no longer undercut by foreign competitors ... except that the truly big players like Amazon can get around these rules by conducting internal transfers that don't count as taxable sales when they cross borders, because it's just moving stuff from one warehouse to another. So Amazon in Germany can offer a box set of jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon's complete Columbia albums on cd for two thirds of the price you can get it at Groovesland in Berlin.

The Finnish postal service (I use the word 'service' very loosely) has spotted an opportunity here and charges an additional handling fee of 2,90 euros for deliveries requiring any customs declaration, unless these are accompanied by a specific EU VAT number (IOSS). At least in theory. In practice the Finnish postal service (now I'm being really satirical) ignores all the information provided by the sender and forces the receiver to go through a customs declaration anyway, so I have to know that IOSS number in advance if I'm going to (a) save myself having to pay the extra VAT, and (b) save myself the handling fee ... at least in theory. In practice the Finnish postal service has a habit of losing packages for which IOSS is already known and/or declared but the handling fee has not been paid, even if it shouldn't be necessary to pay that fee in such cases. Thus I lost an order from Japan last year, which got returned despite having had all taxes paid upfront.

Still awake?

The combination of poorly designed VAT rules disguised as fairness and badly run state or private monopolies abusing their market power has not been good for my music hobby. Ordering from Ebay and Discogs at least allows me to know the IOSS number in advance and avoid most of the added hassle, if not expense, of buying from outside the EU. But it means that I've had to choose both the location of retailers/dealers more carefully, and time my expensive UK purchases for whenever I'm visiting family.

Don't see any end to this any time soon, but I'll avoid making any obvious (and obviously controversial) suggestions!

[Tim Richmond]

This'll make you smile. I was bidding on Bay earlier in the year, UK seller. I noticed that VAT was added to my bid.

Evil Bay showed me as being in the US, I live in West Yorkshire!

I messaged the seller, who confirmed that he was UK based (Newport, Isle of Wight) and was a regular seller, never had any VAT issues. 

We agreed to cancel my bid and re bid via my wife's Evil Bay account. Won the record, no mention of VAT.

Took this up with an idiot at EB who told me that the Channel Islands were not classed as UK, hence VAT was payable. I told him that Newport, Isle of Wight, although not connected to the British mainland, was a part of the UK and defo not one of the Channel Islands, he wasn't having it, so I swore at him and hung up.

You really couldn't make it up!!

[Whiskyagogo]

On 23/04/2022 at 16:25, Amsterdam Russ said:

Interesting and - at the same time - alarming story about VAT/customs charges on items bought online from the UK and sent to the Netherlands. Not of much interest to most of you, perhaps, but it's worth noting this comment from the Dutch postal service (PostNL), which states that:

eBay, I suspect - and based on the surcharges I've had to stump up when buying from the UK - is charging VAT with no distinction about whether the seller is private or business, and makes it about impossible for individuals to dispute erroneous charges. 

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/parcels-from-britain-you-will-have-to-pay-unless-it-is-a-small-gift/

 

Trying to get a reply from Ebay let alone speak to someone is a no go.

I've offed the twats now.

[Jonko]

Thank Brexit for this. They tighted all the rules after Brexit so buying from anywhere now and shipping to the UK is a nightmare. I didn't know About about the difference though buying from private sellers and buisness sellers. I often buy stuff from Carolina soul and always get changed vat for about a year now, though strangely I bought a record of another seller for 300$ (don't know if a business or not but he has lots for sale), I was in Italy on holiday at the time and i never got charged VAT (I wonder if that was because I was in the EU rather than buying from the UK), had it shipped to the UK. I kind of expected that customs would charge me a fee when delivering but never got charged anything. 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Jonko

[Tlscapital]

1 hour ago, Jonko said:

...I kind of expected that customs would charge me a fee when delivering but never got charged anything. 

Don't over estimate the constancy of any administrations  On some cheaper declared items I had to pay more import VAT than on others higher valued ones and sometimes the parcel went through the Customs without any charges... 

[Frankie Crocker]

On 23/04/2022 at 01:15, Steve G said:

By definition if you are buying something from eBay it is not a gift. So whether the sender is a private individual or a business is irrelevant.

But if you direct it to a USA contact, it could conceivably be a gift! eBay have done their utmost to limit this practice. 

[Steve G]

3 hours ago, Frankie Crocker said:

But if you direct it to a USA contact, it could conceivably be a gift! eBay have done their utmost to limit this practice. 

The point is that the gift has to be from the sender. The fact that you are buying it to give to someone else as a gift is neither here nor there as far as the authorities are concerned. Sorry, but that it is the way it is.